Students services

Before your travel

Students from countries in the European Union (EU) do not need to undertake any official procedures before coming to Spain. However, students from EU countries must apply for the European Health Insurance Card (EHIC) in their country of origin, through their country's equivalent body to the Spanish Social Security.

Students from countries outside the EU wishing to come to Spain to study for a period of more than three months must do the following:

Apply for a student visa at the Spanish embassy or consulate in your home country. It is important to apply as soon as possible, since at most embassies it takes at least three months to complete the process of issuing the visa.

Students from countries that are not EU member states must do the the following:

Register in the city of residence, after finding somewhere to live in Spain.

Apply for your first non-EU student card. This card contains your foreigner's identity number and certifies your legal status in Spain. It must be applied for within 30 days of your arrival in Spain.

Legalisation of certificates

Legalization is the authentication of a document by the competent authorities in the country where the document was issued.

You must have a legalized university certificate to obtain the master's or postgraduate degree certificate issued by the Polytechnic University of Catalonia.

The procedure varies depending on the country of origin of the studies or certificate.

Students from countries of the European Union or signatories to the European Economic Area Agreement do not require the photocopy of their certificate to be legalized. For students from these countries see the translation of certificates section below.

The legalization of the certificate is also not necessary for citizens of Switzerland, due to a bilateral agreement with the EU.

For other foreign students, certificates must be legalized according to the following conditions:

Documents issued in countries that have signed the hague convention. The single legalization or apostille issued by the country's competent authorities is sufficient.

Documents issued in other countries. These must be legalized through diplomatic channels. The document must bear the stamps of:

The Ministry of Education of the country of origin.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the country of origin.

Spanish diplomatic representation in the country of origin.

Documents issued by diplomatic or consular authorities of other countries in Spain. These must be legalized at the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Translation of certificates

Documents or certificates in a foreign language other than Catalan or Spanish must be translated into that language as stipulated in Article 36.1 of Law 30/1992 of 26 November, on the Legal Regime of the Public Administrations and Common Administrative Procedure

As a consequence of this law, the regulations governing these procedures require that documents issued abroad must be accompanied by an official translation into Spanish or Catalan.

Diplomatic representation in the applicant's country of origin or where appropriate, the country of issue of the document.

Languages

The School of Professional & Executive Development is located in Catalonia, a region that, due to its unique historical and cultural situation, enjoys significant political autonomy within Spain. Catalan and Spanish are the official languages of Catalonia. 93% of the inhabitants of Catalonia can understand Catalan, 68% can speak it and 67% can write it. Both languages are derived from Latin and have much in common.

Social attitudes towards both languages are cordial and flexible. Both are used freely in day-to-day affairs and it is quite common for people to switch from one to the other or to have bilingual group conversations.

To find accommodation in Barcelona, the city's universities have an agreement with Barcelona University Centre and its centralized booking centre, Resa Housing, which will advise you on the accommodation options that are available to you (halls of residence, shared flats, rented flats, living with a family, etc.), their cost and the requirements for finalising a contract.